How Does the State Prove Intoxication?

Frequently, intoxication, or the lack thereof, is the only issue in a DUI case. There are some other issues as well, which are outlined below.

In about 80 percent of cases, defendants provide chemical breath or blood samples. If the defendant’s BAC limit is above the legal limit, the defendant is guilty as a matter of law.

However, these chemical tests, especially Breathalyzer tests, are not always accurate. Some breath test issues include:

• If the defendant has recently consumed any alcohol, these particles will inflate the breath test result, but they have not yet entered the bloodstream.
• Vomiting or belching in the fifteen minutes prior to the test floods the mouth with alcohol particles, this inflating the BAC result.
• Breathalyzers register many non-alcohol particles as ethanol, since they are in the same chemical family.

Blood tests are not 100 percent accurate either. Frequently, Kamuela DUI lawyers demand retests to demonstrate these discrepancies.

In other cases, especially, DUI-drug prosecutions, the state relies almost entirely on the field sobriety tests, such as walking a straight line. These tests are extremely subjective.

Kamuela DUI Lawyers and Possible Defenses

Attacking the evidence of intoxication is usually the best way to beat these cases in court. However, there might be some other defenses as well.

Prosecutors must prove the defendant was operating the vehicle at the time of the offense. That’s not easy to do in DUI collision cases. Frequently, no one saw the defendant driving the car. Furthermore, not everyone who sits in the driver’s seat is “operating” the vehicle for purposes of this law.

Additionally, the offense must have occurred in a public place. Shopping mall and apartment complex parking lots are not public places, even if they are open to the public and have street names.

Defenses Against Highly Intoxicated DUI Charges

Highly intoxicated DUI charges, like extreme DUI laws in other states, provide for increased penalties. First-time offenders must serve at least 48 hours in jail; repeat offenders serve a minimum of 10 days. The law also requires driving privilege revocation for 6- to 36 months.

To win, prosecutors must prove that the defendant’s blood alcohol exceeded .15 grams per 100 milliliters of blood or .15 grams of 210 liters of breath.

The chemical tests used to establish blood alcohol suffer from many flaws, including improper administration and large margin for error. Often, the fallibility of DUI testing leads to strong defenses against highly intoxicated DUI charges in Hawaii.

Call Today For A Consultation With An Experienced Kamuela DUI Attorney

Being arrested for DUI does not mean you have been proven guilty. Our Kamuela DUI attorneys are familiar with taking cases to trial, if need be, and beat these charges for clients. However, you need to act fast to get the desirable results. After all, drinking and driving charges can have serious direct and indirect consequences. To avoid them, you need the experienced Kamuela DUI lawyers at Olson & Sons, L.C. Visit one at our Kamuela Office or call 808-885-8533.